2006
Lessons from Paris - Yes, It Could Happen Here
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Last winter in France, the Muslim youth erupted in riots that lasted over 2 weeks before control was reestablished. Nathan Muller is co-founder of For the Cause, believes that similar riots could happen here in the U.S. I concur 100%, it is only a matter of time.
After two weeks of rioting throughout France among that nation's immigrant population, Americans are asking, "Could it happen here?"
American's are right to ask the question because the circumstances in the two countries are strikingly similar…
- Both countries have allowed immigration policies to deteriorate to the point that virtually anyone who wants to enter can do so with little difficulty.
- Both countries have large immigrant populations that will not assimilate into the host culture or accept its values.
- Most of the immigrants pouring into both countries cannot find jobs, which means they sap social welfare benefits beyond sustainable levels.
Politicians' favorite ploy
What the governments of France and the U.S. need to understand is that uncontrolled immigration naturally produces social inequalities that are difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. These social inequalities are not the result of the prejudices or fears of citizens, but of the misguided policies of government. Attributing social inequalities to "prejudice" or "fear" is a disingenuous ploy politicians use to mask their own policy failures.
With violence waning, President Jacques Chirac has called on France to confront the social inequalities and prejudices that fueled the violence. This is doomed to failure because it is based on a false premise. It's not the French people who are the problem, it's the French government.
The cause of the unrest in France is due mainly to the high rate of unemployment among a vast and growing immigrant population, which hovers around 40%. With an overall unemployment rate of 11%, it will be difficult for France to open the doors to employment, especially with all the bureaucracy and costs associated with job creation. Here the French government is clearly at fault.
According to the World Bank, France finishes 139th out of 154 countries in terms of how easy it is to hire and fire workers. The cost of adding a worker to the payroll is an additional 47% of the annual salary, according to the World Bank. And once workers are hired, it is virtually impossible to fire them.
Contributing to the high cost of hiring is France's legally mandated 35-hour work week, long annual holidays, generous health benefits and powerful labor unions that frequently strike. Since government policies make it too expensive to hire people and nearly impossible to fire them, companies tend to keep headcount to a minimum. As a consequence, jobs in France are always in short supply.
Chirac wants to deflect blame from the government by casting blame onto French citizens for their prejudice. The consequence of this ploy is that the fundamental problems - uncontrolled immigration and high unemployment - will fester. When another outbreak of rioting occurs, it could be much worse.
We have the same situation in our own country with uncontrolled immigration. But because the cost of adding headcount is so much cheaper here - 8.5% of annual salary, according to the World Bank - there is no reluctance among employers to hire undocumented workers or illegal aliens, especially since it is unlikely that they will be penalized for doing so. But this does have the consequence of depressing wages for American workers and of depriving Americans of good paying jobs and employment opportunities.
Jobs for everyone? Hardly…
While millions of illegal aliens stream through our southern border annually, ostensibly to find employment, the vast majority who come here are not able to find work. As in France, we have a growing immigrant population that cannot find jobs.
In Herndon, Virginia town officials say that immigrants come to their community because jobs are plentiful. A recent Washington Post editorial echoes this myth as if it were unassailable fact:
"There is work — enormous amounts of work, particularly in the Northern Virginia suburbs. In fact, in an area with virtually no unemployment, the market is desperate for immigrant labor, documented, undocumented or falsely documented. It helps keep the economy growing, and immigrants come here because they know they are needed and there will be plenty of work."
After two weeks observing an informal day labor site and adjacent streets and parking lots in Herndon, for every 20 laborers picked up for a day's work, about 70 remain behind and are idle for the rest of the day. Put another way, 78% of day laborers in Herndon fail to find work on any given day. And this is in a market ostensibly "desperate for immigrant labor," according to the Washington Post.
With an estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants living in Virginia, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, this would mean there are 156,000 idle people roaming our communities. If this is as good as it gets, then nationally we have a problem on high simmer.
In reality, there are not that many jobs to go around. The reason immigrants keep coming to Herndon is the "hope" of finding work. And if they don't find it, they can count on the compassion industry to help them stay anyway.
There are numerous support groups catering to the needs of illegal aliens in Herndon, including Reston Interfaith / Project Hope & Harmony, which will manage a formal day labor site when it opens in December. This group gets advice from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which works to strengthen and expand the work of local day laborer organizing groups to benefit the laborer community and protect immigrant rights.
There is also the Tenants' and Workers' Support Committee, which acts on behalf of the low-income immigrant population of Northern Virginia to, among other things, expand their access to health care.
Just shut up and pay…
When out-of-work aliens stay in the community, they can raise families with the aid of subsidized housing and numerous other welfare programs, all arranged for by various support groups at taxpayer expense. This puts an extreme financial burden on American citizens who are forced to pick up the tab. Sometimes this expense comes in unexpected ways, such as education.
In Northern Virginia's Fairfax County, the cost of educating the children of illegal aliens is a staggering $125 million annually, according to David Albo, who won re-election to represent Fairfax in the state assembly.
But residents are put to shame for raising questions about the uncontrolled influx of illegal aliens into their communities, even though they pay exorbitant taxes to support it.
When Herndon residents objected to the use of taxpayers dollars to establish a formal day labor site in a residential neighborhood, Herndon Mayor Michael O'Reilly accused them of prejudice and of being fearful of people who look and talk differently. Now the town is attracting greater numbers of people from Mexico, Honduras, Columbia, Bolivia and El Salvador - the vast majority not able to find work.
When questions were raised at a Fairfax Board of Supervisors meeting recently, residents who spoke out against day labor centers were dismissed as "racists." The Board then voted unanimously to allocate $170,000 in funds for the day labor site in Herndon.
The attitude among our elected officials is becoming increasingly nasty. We're just supposed to pay out taxes and shut up about how the money is used, even if it is for an illegal purpose. And if we don't like it, that's just too bad.
The middle class squeeze
The problem of unemployment among immigrant populations in the U.S. raises the specter of widespread violence in the future, especially if social benefits programs cannot be sustained.
The reason social programs may not be sustainable is that federal government policies are squeezing the middle class out of its ability to pay for the social welfare programs, schools, law enforcement, emergency services, and government expansion.
The federal government allows great numbers of tech workers to be imported, despite a 5.8% unemployment rate in this sector. It even sells H1-B visas to foreigners in a futile attempt to close the budget deficit. Manufacturing and textile jobs are allowed to go overseas in the name of "free" trade.
Bankruptcy laws have been changed so that the middle class cannot get a fresh start after being wiped out by the high cost of healthcare. College loans are being scaled back, even while illegal aliens get in-state tuition rates. Now the tax deduction on home mortgage interest is in jeopardy.
All this, while Congress continues to squander tax dollars at every opportunity, such as subsidies for the cash-rich oil industry or a porked up highway bill. When a true disaster strikes, such as it did with hurricane Katrina, there is little money for cleanup and repair. Two months after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast many towns have yet to see promised aid.
Our own government is setting us up for a big fall with a toxic brew of uncontrolled immigration, job loss, wage depression, record-breaking trade deficits and unrestrained spending. These trends are not only unsustainable, they are lethal.
But to hear the politicians tell it — in Paris or in Herndon — it's our prejudice and intolerance that are at fault, not government policies.
Nathan Muller is co-founder of For the Cause and the author of 26 books and numerous articles on political, regulatory, legal, management and technology issues. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and other events. He can be reached at this email address.
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